• Where do you and your wife like to go for vacation?

Not only my wife and I but my entire family love to visit natural beauties including National and State Parks. As our children growing up (until they got married) every year, as a family, we spent most of our vacations enjoying these natural beauties that our country has been gifted with. We have visited Grand Canyon, Bad Lands, Mount Rushmore, Yosemite, Grand Teton, Valley of Fire, Garden of the Gods, Starved Rocks, Niagra Falls, Washington Island, Door County, Mackinaw Island, and more.

• What do you like to do in your free time?

Spending time with our daughters when they were growing up and still living with us. Now I enjoyed quiet time, reading and taking a walk through woods and nature.

• What’s your favorite movie?  Favorite book?

I have many favorite movies and books. Movies include At The River I Stand, Lincoln, Freedom Riders, Selma, Still Mine, Romero, Gandhi, Friendship Fields, etc. For books I love books of or about Martin Luther King, Jr., Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Oscar Romero, John Dominic Crossan, Being Mortal, etc. I also love books of history, humor, nature, adventure, etc.

• What is your favorite food?

Any food boiled, grilled, or roasted especially m comfort Filipino food mostly vegetable and fish. I also love soup and soupy/juicy food.

• What is your favorite thing about being a Pastor?

Working with people especially one on one. I find fulfilment and joyful satisfaction helping people able to take care of themselves and become the best version of themselves.

• If you could live anywhere, where would you live?

I always long to go back and live in the village by the bay where I was born. I love the fresh air, the lush and verdant fields and mountains, the beautiful seashore, the abundant fresh vegetables and seafood, and of course, I love the people and their simple way of life. Weatherwise, I would love to live in San Diego or anywhere close to it.

• What did you want to be when you were a kid?

I wanted to be a lawyer but I did not have the economic means to pursue it. My birth country offer no or very little scholarship opportunities.

• Would you rather ride a bike, ride a horse, or drive a car?

I grew riding and shepherding horses. Bike was the most convenient and affordable means of transportation in my home village. In other words, I would be very happy riding horses or biking as long as I feel safe from many vehicles.

• Who would you want to be stranded with on a deserted island?

Of course, my sweet and lovely wife and if possible my entire family (our daughters and their husbands).

• If you could share a meal with four people, living or dead, who would they be?

Of course, for the living I would love to share a meal with my wife, and my family (but that would be 6 of us and I would not want to make a choice for only 4 people). I also would like to have dinner with my mother and my siblings who are all in the Philippines. For the dead people, I would like to have dinner with Martin Luther King, Jr., Mother Teresa, and St. Francis, as well as my father and my two brothers.

• What’s your favorite holiday?

Christmas is the biggest and longest holiday in the Philippines. As a family we love dawn caroling in the neighborhood, attending midnight worship, a Christmas Eve midnight meal, and opening of Christmas gifts first thing on Christmas morning.

• Do you collect anything?

At one time I collected crosses but I gave up. Books I guess is the one thing that I collect. I love to hold and touch real books. It is music to my ear hearing the sound of flipping their pages. I also love the smell of old books.

• What genre of music do you like?  And what’s your favorite song?

I enjoy any melodious gentle music. I love country music and the songs of John Denver, Everly Brothers, Frank Sinatra, and music/songs about environment.

• If you were a musical instrument, what would you be?

I would like to be a guitar. It is the most common musical instrument in the Philippines and perhaps throughout the world. It is affordable, simple, and portable enough to carry it everywhere.

• What is your favorite family holiday tradition?

Christmas Eve Midnight meal with family and friends and opening Christmas gifts immediately following.

• If you had to describe yourself as an animal, what animal would you be and why?

I would choose to be a water buffalo. This is our beast of burden in my birth country. They are gentle, strong, tenacious, hard working.  Water buffalo is life for my family and village community.